Doug Cassidy is a university professor of archeology specializing in the Inca of Peru. In this second book of the trilogy, Doug and his new wife Emily Howell travel with an expert team of scientists to the Nazca Lines near the coast of southern Peru. Their mission is to discover the origins of these large sand drawings, what effect they may have had on the Inca, and what they might mean. Along the way, they discover a group willing to risk everything to prevent Cassidy from succeeding. The result is an astonishing discovery of ancient history as well as current problems that threaten the project's aims and all the team members' lives. And Doug uncovers something that will forever change his life.